Fed Up of the Back Seat
by Emo Unfaltering
Summary: A new school, a new year, for most anyway. It has been a full year since all of them had been together, laughing and messing around, but a lot can change, and it does. Unpredictability sure to ensue, relationships blossom, others crash and burn. Mostly ZexionxXion, but a lot of side pairings. Although Demyx and Kairi are quite heavily involved too, but not as a couple.
1. Chapter 1

"Naminé! ... Naminé!"

Nothing stirred.

"Naminé!"

A blond haired girl woke up slightly into semi-consciousness.

"Naminé! ROXAS IS PROPOSING!"

Naminé shot up out of bed, "YES I WILL!"

Then she looked to her left to find her redheaded best friend laughing her head off. Why had she invited her to sleep over again?

"Not funny Kairi!" she said, scowling, but her attempts were futile, Kairi just stood there laughing hysterically. After what seemed like years to Naminé, Kairi composed herself.

"Okay, okay," she said, still amused, "But seriously, get up, or we're gonna miss our first day, and I promised Sora that we would all meet up before going."

'Oh yeah,' thought Naminé, 'we're starting our first day at Twilight Town Boarding School!'

"I'm sooo-ooo exited to finally see Xion again!" Kairi practically screamed.

Xion was their other best friend, she had started going to the boarding school a year before them. The main reason that they had all decided to go there was because there had been some dodgy business at their old one, and the group of friends' (including the boys') parents had wanted their kids away from all that.

But sadly the fees were really high, so most of them had saved for the next year. They had all tried the scholarship exam, but only Xion passed, and going to such a great school for free was an offer that she couldn't refuse. Although Naminé was very bright, she could often be found drawing when she was meant to be studying, so she didn't pass. The boys were too focused on the struggle tournament. And Naminé had a sneeking suspicion that Kairi had got a few questions wrong so that she could stay with Sora.

They hadn't had a chance to meet up with her for the last nine or ten months, because they were either busy, or Xion was studying so her grades would be good enough that she could carry on at the school, anything less and she would have to leave.

Anyway, they were really exited to see her again.

Naminé finally dragged herself out of bed and got dressed, it was a shame that the school had a uniform (the old one didn't) but at least it wasn't too bad. For the girls it consisted of black shoes, high socks, a pale blue skirt and a sleeveless shirt. **(AN: Yes, I know that the uniform was supposed to be for the Destiny Islands school, but just go with it.)** For the boys it was black trousers, a white shirt, and black shoes.

She went downstairs to find the red-head wolfing down pre-made pancakes from the microwave.

"Ew, Kairi," she moaned, "how can you eat this junk, it's practically all fake!"

Kairi just glared at her and said, "Fine, _you_ can skip breakfast, we gotta go!"

She then grabbed Naminé's hand and dragged her out the door. They walked for about five minutes until they reached Sora's house, where the rest of the group stood waiting.

"Hey! Kairi! Naminé!" Sora yelled, waving enthusiastically. Roxas gave a small wave too, but his face visibly brightened when he saw Naminé. Riku just nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hi guys, you ready to go?" asked Kairi, after releasing Naminé from a death grip.

"Whatever." grunted Riku.

"Jeez, Riku, don't get too exited now." a sarcastic Roxas remarked.

"Yeah Riku! I mean, you get to see the 'love of your life' again! What's not to be exited about?" laughed Kairi.

"W-what! Xion isn't-"

"Don't deny it, it's really obvious." Naminé pointed out.

"Fine," Riku groaned, folding his arms, "you got me. Let's just go already."

**-O_o?-**

Five teens got off of a train, outside a massive complex of buildings.

"Oh dear God!"

"Holy Fu- Cow, holy cow."

"..."

"Yaaaaaay!"

"Shut up Sora."

They all looked at eachother.

"Well, let's meet up in a few hours," suggested Kairi, "just here, and we'll bring Xion along."

Everyone nodded and ran off.

"Hurry up Nami! I wanna see Xion!"

"Kairi," Naminé sighed, "we don't even know if we'll get her as a roommate."

"It's bound to happen Naminé, we chose her to be in our room, and she chose us! We'll get her for sure!"

* * *

Xion sat in the back of her Dad's car, texting her old friends Zexion as the school came into veiw.

**To: Zexion**

**cant wait to see you!  
-Xion**

**To: Xion**

**Indeed, the feeling is mutual.  
-Zexion Lyons**

"Xion!" her Dad's voice snapped her out of her conversation, "We're here."

She grabbed her two suitcases, ready to lug them out.

"Don't I even get a goodbye?" asked Cloud, pretending to be really hurt.

"Bye Dad, love you."

"Ditto, have fun kiddo."

Xion got out the car and walked through the gates, dragging her two big bags along behind her.

Apon reaching the building where her room was supposed to be, she entered the lift.

'I wonder who my roommates are going to be this year,' thought the small raven haired teen, "Sadly, there's like zero chance of being with Shiki and Eri again...'

Shiki and Eri were Xion's two closest friends, even though they didn't get to talk much because the other two were always busy designing, while she was studying to keep her grades high enough to stay in the school. Which meant studying _a_ _lot. _But, however boring it was, she had to do it. Failing the scholarship exam was not an option. They were really low on money, so getting into a school for free was a godsend, plus; her Dad had only just got out of his depressed phase after Xion's mom died. Which was ten months ago. Xion was sad about it, of coarse, but she had never really had the time to get to know her, because her mom was always away for work.

Anyway, she got out of the lift and turned right, she walked down the corridor until she found Room 114. The door was unlocked, so Xion assumed that her new roommates were already inside. She opened the door.

"XION!" screamed a redhead, launching at her with a tackle-hug.

"What the Fu- Kairi?!" she choked, then noticed the pale blond standing behind Kairi, "And Naminé!"

"Xion, we missed you a lot." said Naminé, with one of her unusual grins.

Xion was getting very uncomfortable underneath Kairi, and pushed her off playfully.

"Can I sit down first?"

* * *

**AN: Yay! New story! I know that Zexion doesn't speak like that in the game, but I couldn't help it.**

**By the way, the boys will be more in the next chapter, stay tuned and please review!"**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Well, it's time for chapter two!**

* * *

Xion sat on the previously unclaimed top bunk, while she and her two old friends talked about... everything. Well, it mainly consisted of Kairi and Naminé interrogating Xion about everything that they'd missed. Frankly, there wasn't much to tell.

Xion had two friends, Shiki and Eri, and another who she hadn't seen for while because he was doing a special education course abroad (because he's a freaking genius). She didn't get out much because she was studying a lot, which explained her lack of friends.

"To put it bluntly; my life sucks."

"Do you really have to study that much?" asked Kairi, "I thought that you passed the scholarship exam really easily last year."

"Uh..." Xion looked down, not able to meet Kairi's eyes, "Well, uh, I don't know, how are you and Sora?"

"...Fine." answered Kairi, confused, "Our two-year anniversary is coming up."

"And me and Roxas are together now!" Naminé added.

"Finally!" exclaimed Xion, throwing her hands up, "That's great you guys, both of you."

Kairi looked at her watch, "Shi- Shoulders! We're gonna be late to meet the boys!"

She grabbed her two best friends' wrists and dragged them out the door.

"Let's go ladies!"

* * *

Sora, Riku and Roxas sat beneath a tree just inside the school gates.

"How late are they now?" asked Sora, jiggling his knee impatiently.

"Twenty-Five minutes exactly." answered Riku, consulting his watch. They all groaned.

"Do you think that they ended up with Xion in their room?" Roxas thought aloud, to nobody in particular.

"Definitely," said Riku with a grin, which caused the other two to look at him, "judging from this."

He gestured to three girls walking towards them.

"Xion!" yelled Sora, and the said girl turned to face him.

"Hi guys."

Then - for the second time that day - she was tackled to the ground with a hug.

Xion coughed awkwardly, and attempted to get up, "Um... Sora, you have a girlfriend."

"Oh! Right!" he scrambled to his feet and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry."

"Don't be."

Riku and Roxas walked over to greet her as well.

"It's been a while." said Roxas, rubbing the back of his head just like his twin.

Xion laughed, "Oh, only a year!"

Riku smiled properly for the second time that day, "Three-hundred and sixty-five days too many."

* * *

The rest of the day passed in a flash. The six of them went out for the first time together in a year, to the school café. They caught up with each other's news, played stupid games, and generally mucked around before going their separate ways to their dorms.

"Today was great," said Kairi, once the three of them were back in their room.

"Agreed," replied Xion, her face hidden behind a biology textbook, "but after tomorrow we're back at school."

Naminé sighed, "Well, we should make the most of it."

"Totally!" chirped Kairi, "How about going to the movies?"

"I'm up for it. Xion?"

She was scribbling into a notebook, "Can't. Busy. Meeting Zexion."

"Zexion?"

Xion sighed, exasperated. To be honest, she hadn't really enjoyed the evening, it seemed as if she had missed too much, and her friends were different. Plus, she was still really nervous around Kairi because of what happened.

"Xion!"

She snapped out of her thoughts to find her friends (?) looking at her weirdly.

"You blanked out." stated Naminé.

"Daydreaming about this Zexion person?" teased Kairi, smirking.

"He's just an old friend, the one who went on that advanced course." she told them, before getting up and going into the bathroom for a shower, "I'm going to bed."

* * *

Kairi's eyes snapped open. For a moment she was confused; what had happened to here bedroom? But then she remembered it all, she was at a new school, sharing a room with her two best friends. Well... kind of. Naminé was definitely her best friend, but Xion was acting weird. Suddenly she was hit in the face with a pair of socks.

"Get up. Or I start throwing dirty ones."

She sat up to find Xion's arm hanging over the side of the bed above. She was holding more socks. Dirty ones.

"Aight! I'm up! I'm up!"

She got out of the lower bunk, making a conscious effort not to hit her head on the top bunk.

"You're so damn lucky to have the normal bed, Nami." moaned Kairi, eyeing Naminé's bed enviously.

"I got dibs Kairi," Naminé replied, wagging her finger, "I won it fair and square!"

"But I totally-"

"Can it you two! I'm doing an online exam here and can't afford to mess this up!" Xion snapped, staring hard at the screen of the laptop. The other two just looked at her and blinked, they had never seen her so worked up about school work before. They continued to get dressed in silence, the only sounds to be heard were clothes rustling and the laptop whirring.

Xion kept going at the exam. She had studied hard for all the subjects and was expecting to pass. Even though it had no effect on her actual grades, the exam was still important, because it determined whether she was ready for the real thing. Which was a big deal.

After fifteen minutes she had finished, with a couple of minutes to spend checking her answers. Xion was pretty confident in most of it, and only needed eighty percent to pass.

The timer hit 00:00 and her percentage result popped up.

Forty-nine percent. A definate fail.

She stared at the screen blankly, reading the number again and again, as if to check that there wasn't anything written between the lines. Realizing that the number wasn't going to change, she buried her head in her hands.

There was no way that she could turn up another thirty-one percent in three days, unless she pretended to be sick on the day and sneeked in another twelve hours of revision. But if she got caught she'd get suspended.

Xion was neck-deep in thick shit.

"Are you okay, Xion...?" Naminé's concerned voice brought her back to the real world. She punched the wall. Hard.

Naminé jumped and Kairi turned around.

Xion snapped the laptop shut, grabbed some shoes and dashed out.

"Got to go!"

* * *

**AN: Oooh, Xion's in troubles! And is keeping secrets! OOOOOH!**

**I'll try to update weekly from now on!**

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Well... sorry that this chapter is a lot shorter than my others, I am trying to chunk the story as best I can.**

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Do you honestly think I did?**

* * *

"What a pleasant surprise," said Zexion, walking over to Xion in the library, "I was not expecting you before One pm."

"There's a first time for everything," she replied, not once looking up from the textbook.

"Indeed, it would appear so."

Normally, Xion would have been ecstatic to see her friend again, but sadly, things weren't going normally.

"Something troubling you?" he asked, one eyebrow raised, although it could have been two, nobody knows.

Xion frowned, then let her head slip off of her hand and hit the table.

"I will make the assumption of that meaning yes."

She looked at him for the first time in a year. His hair was slightly darker, but still long over one eye, and he had finally grown a bit.

"I'm gonna fail my next scholarship exam..." she sighed, still with her face flat on the table.

"Why would you be so sure?"

Xion pushed the laptop towards him.

"I see..." Zexion scanned through all of the questions that she had got wrong, "Some tutoring may be in order."

She shook her head slowly, "It wouldn't make any difference, the exam is in three days."

"Do you forget that I have straight A+'s in all subjects?" he asked coyly.

She looked at him again, "You seriously think that you can help me turn this around?"

Zexion smiled, as much as he could anyway, "I would be failing my duties as a friend if I did not."

Xion smiled a huge smile, and hugged Zexion like hell.

"Thank you so much!" she cried, finally letting go of his waist.

"You can thank me _after _you pass that test."

**-O_o?-**

"God dammit!" sighed Kairi, hitting her head against a wall, "How are we supposed to find one girl in an entire school?"

"Beat's me," answered Naminé, "Where would she have normally gone?"

"How am I supposed to know!? I haven't seen her in a year!"

They had been looking for Xion for an hour, after she had run off. Naminé closed her eyes, desperately trying to think of something. Then suddenly, it hit her!

"Xion was doing an exam, right?" she began.

"Yeah, and?"

"She needed quiet, so she could have gone to the library. You know, because it's quiet in there."

Kairi smacked her hand to her forehead, "And this is why you are my best friend in the world, Nami!"

They hurried down the corridor towards the library.

When they went inside, they saw Xion sitting at a desk with an emo looking guy. He seemed to be explaining something to her.

"Should we go talk to her?" Kairi asked, walking to a corner of the library.

"Maybe when she's less... busy." Naminé replied, still trying to figure out all the things that had happened that morning.

Just then, a text popped up on her phone.

**To: Naminé  
****r we still going to the movies tonite?  
****-Roxas****  
**

**-O_o?-**

Zexion had seen Xion's friends (?) walk in moment before, and he was almost certain that she wanted to avoid them. Being good friends with someone allows you to figure out what they're thinking, especially if you have all A+'s in psychology.

"Shall we exit?" he asked, hoping that Xion wouldn't see them.

"Why?" she asked, not looking up from the page.

Zexion looked over to the girls, they were both occupied on the blonde one's phone.

"I find the noise level uncomfortable." he lied.

She sighed, "Okay, Mr Sensitive."

Taking Xion's books out of her hands, he smiled at her, "I do believe that I am doing you a favor. The least you could do is be nice to me."

"No, the least that I could do is nothing."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I will try to make this chapter longer to atone for my shortness in the one previous.**

* * *

The first day of school was kind of boring for Naminé. She was in the same homeroom as Kairi and Roxas, and had art with Xion and Riku, but the rest of her classes were with people that she didn't even know. But luckily, Naminé had the same lunch time as all of her friends, although Xion wasn't there.

"Seriously, where is she?" asked Roxas, eyeing the cafeteria door.

Kairi sighed, "She's been acting weird all week..."

Naminé felt for her, because it seemed as if Xion was avoiding Kairi especially.

"Meh," Riku shrugged, "She'll come around."

"I sure hope so." Roxas said sadly, "Because I really- Ow!"

He was smacked in the face with Sora's soda bottle top, leaving a little round mark on his cheek.

"Sora!" he yelled, his face so red that you couldn't see the mark, "Get ready to die!"

Roxas then proceeded to chase Sora out of the cafeteria and out of sight.

"Well, I'd better go find those idiots." Riku said, getting up from his seat, "I'll see you guys when lessons are over."

As the bell rang, they went to their respective classes and carried on the day as normal. At the end of the day, the five friends met up in the boys' dorm and stuffed their faces with a multitude of sugary foods, as a little celebration of surviving the first proper day.

And the next day was almost exactly the same.

On Wednesday, after school time was over, Kairi sat on her bed talking to Sora over the phone.

"...and whenever I try to talk to her, she just makes up some damn excuse! But when _Naminé _talks to Xion, she actually gets a half decent conversation! Although, we keep seeing her with some weird guy from the year above us."

Just then, Xion walked in, and she looked really happy about something. After literally chucking her bags onto her bed, she left.

**-O_o?-**

Walking down the corridor towards the library, Xion held a piece of paper close to her chest. As she went inside, she found Zexion sitting at his usual spot at the back, she walked over to him with a sad expression.

"Hi Zex..." she said, looking at her feet.

"How did the exam go?" he asked with concern.

"I... I GOT EIGHTY-FOUR PERCENT!" she screamed, holding the piece of paper out to him, and earning a lot of scornful glares.

"I'm glad." he stated, "You did well."

"And it's all thanks to you!" she said more quietly, "Let's go to the cafe, I'm paying! Think of it as a thank-you gift."

"I am grateful for the offer, but I know that you are not exactly stable financially."

"Fine," she huffed, "But we're still going."

They walked out of the library and to the cafe, which was packed full of teens. They bought some drinks and fries to share, and sat at one of the tables outside. They chatted about stuff they'd missed in each other's lives, and by the end of it, they were fully caught up.

"Xion," Zexion started, as they were getting up, "I was wondering, if we could-"

He was interrupted by his phone ringing in his pocket.

"Hello? Demyx... slow down! ... Right... agreed, I will come right now."

He snapped his phone shut and apologized, "I'm deeply sorry, my friends are being... themselves."

Xion smiled, "It's fine, what were you going to say?"

Zexion shook his head and gathered up his things, "It was nothing, I need to go. Goodbye."

He walked off.

Xion decided to get back to her dorm, as it was getting dark. When she walked inside, she found Kairi and Naminé looking at her weirdly.

"Sit down." instructed Kairi, in her stern voice.

Xion knew that this couldn't be good, but she sat down on the floor anyway.

"Why have you been acting weird all week?" asked Naminé, cutting straight to the point.

Xion's eyes widened, "I-I have?"

Kairi sighed, "Don't play dumb, Xi, if there's something wrong, just tell us!"

Xion groaned, then brought her knees up to her chest.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered.

"What?"

"I'm sorry!"

"What for?!" asked Naminé.

"It's a long story."

Kairi sighed again, "Tell it straight, beginning to end."

"Well, you know I used to be a straight D student?" she began, "Well, when we did that test at the start of the year, the one to see whether we could get a scholarship or not, I only managed to answer half of the questions. But you needed at least ninety-eight percent to pass, s-so I was out of the running. When we got our scores back, my sheet said that I got ninety-eight percent. S-so I looked into it... and..."

She buried her head in her hands.

"Th-they got our scores mixed up Kairi... but I just took your scholarship!"

Kairi just looked at Xion, "You... WHAT!?"

Xion jumped up and raced out of the room.

* * *

**AN: Xion... your such a douche! -sigh- **

**Please review! PLEASE!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Whelp, thanks to my lurvely reviewers: XxCrimsonOblivionxX and ZealousZexionZealot, even though there's only two of them...**

* * *

Xion darted down the corridor, cursing herself for being such a coward. I did not help that Queen Bitch (Selphie) shot her dirty looks and she went by. After about two minutes she found the door that was to be her savior, hidden from most of the students and quite a squeeze to get through, but it was worth it. She climbed up four flights of stairs before opening the next door, then stepped out. Onto the roof.

She sat down, head in hands, and groaned. This was definitely the worst year of her life: her Mom had died; her Dad was on the brink of losing his job; and she had made the most stupid mistake ever and lost her friends.

She groaned out loud.

"I hate this!"

And for the first time in about four years, Xion had her first proper cry. She cried for her Mom, Dad, friends, brother, and everyone else's lives she had fucked up. After who-knows how long, she laid back and tried to get a decent nights sleep, shivering in the cold and cursing herself for not bringing anything up with her.

Just as Xion was drifting off into sleep, she was woken by someone crashing through the door that led up to the roof. He seemed to be running away from something and was completely out of breath, his spiked up mullet-style hair was all over the place. He slammed the door shut behind him and leaned on it, his eyes closed and breathing hard.

She stared at him in shock, and when he finally opened his eyes, he saw her and jumped back.

"Aah!" he shrieked, girlishly, "Who're you?"

Xion turned away, "I could say the same thing to you."

"Yeah, you could," he said cheekily, "but you didn't, did you?"

She huffed, and leaned back again, "Xion."

"What?"

"My name - it's Xion"

The boy nodded, finally understanding what she meant. He walked over and sat down a little way away from her.

"Demyx," he replied, and gave her a goofy smile. She felt as if she had heard his name somewhere before.

"What brings you here, Demyx?" she asked, this guy didn't seem too bad.

"I could ask you the same thing." he laughed, mimicking Xion's voice.

"Not funny," she said, and tried to frown, but couldn't help smiling.

"I'm kidding. Honestly, both my roommates were in a crappy mood this evening, one of them got a bunch of Saturday detentions for setting a desk on fire, and the other one chickened out of confessing to a girl he likes. I guess it didn't help that I pranked them both as they came in."

Xion laughed, "_That _was who you were running away from?!"

Demyx scowled, "Of course it was! One of them set fire to a _table _this morning, don't tell me that I shouldn't be scared!"

They talked and laughed for a while, before deciding to go to sleep, unless they intended to do so during class the next day. The thought of school made Xion sigh, she simply couldn't face everyone, but she couldn't avoid them forever. Heck, she still needed to get her clothes first thing in the morning!

* * *

Xion woke up to the sound of birds chirping and Demyx snoring. She had an awful aching neck where she had slept funny, not to mention being as stiff as a board. Checking her phone, she found that it was only five am, so if she was lucky, she could sneak into her dorm unnoticed and squeeze in a couple of hours of study.

She decided to leave Demyx as he was, Xion didn't have the heart to wake him, so she got up and went inside. Walking down the corridor, she noticed that hardly anyone was up, but why would they be? If anything, she was happy to have the quiet. She went into the next building and found room 114, unlocking the door, she sighed with relief. Both of the other girls were out cold.

Xion had a quick shower and got changed, careful not to wake the others. When she was dressed she headed to the library, did a bit of studying and still had another half hour before classes actually started, so she went up onto the roof again. When she was back up, she found Demyx still sleeping soundly, so she woke him up.

He shot up, gasping, "I didn't _mean_ to marry him!"

Then he realized that he was no longer dreaming, and glared at Xion, "Damn you, what time is it?"

She checked her phone, "Twenty to eight."

"Dah! Shit!"

He sped out of the door and down to his dorm.

Xion sat down again and closed her eyes, reciting what she would say to the others.

_'Sorry I ruined your chance of going to the best school around?'_

No.

_'Sorry I lied to you and avoided you for a year?'_

Not even close.

_'I was high that day?'_

That's worse than any of the others!

This was impossible for Xion, she would probably chicken out before saying anything at all! Then she remembered something that put her in an even worse mood: What if teachers found out?

She would be kicked out of the school for certain, not to mention having trouble getting in to any others. Her Dad would surely have a break down, and her brother... well, who knows? Nobody had seen him in quite a few years.

Underneath her, the school bell rang.

Damn.

* * *

**AN: Well, life isn't going well is it? And who is Xion's brother? **

**Find out... IF YOU REVIEW!**

**Oh, and please tell me if there is anything that I can improve on, or anything that my lurvely readers would like.**

**Arrivederci, i miei amici!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Well...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or any of the characters in this fanfiction! EAT _THAT_, LAWYERS!**

* * *

Riku looked at Xion from his desk. How could she have done that?

There was no way that he could ask her out now...

"Riku..."

She probably never liked him anyway...

"Riku?"

This was such a mess!

"Riku!"

"Huh? Oh, here!" he yelled, earning some laughs, before grinning sheepishly. It wasn't worth dwelling on things for too long, he'd only get himself all sad again. He would sort it out at a better time.

Riku managed to get through the rest of the morning with a smile, and met up with his friends outside at break.

It wasn't soon before they ended up on the subject that everyone had wanted to avoid.

"So," Roxas began, "What are we gonna do about... uh, y'know..."

"What?" asked Sora, forever slow.

"You know... Xion."

"_Oh_!"

Everyone sighed, and Kairi looked at the floor.

"My family _need _that scholarship, after my Mom lost her job and everything. Dad can hardly keep food on the table." she said quietly, not looking up from the floor, "But... if I claim it... they'll expel her."

Nobody said anything for a while.

"Talk to her." Riku said bluntly, "You'll sort something out."

Kairi frowned, she was mad at Xion, and if Xion hadn't been able to get into the school in the first place... then it would be like nothing had happened if she left. Right?

"Okay," she found herself saying, "I'll try."

* * *

At break, Xion laid down on her bed in the dorm, talking to Demyx over the phone.

_"Aw... please? I really want you to meet them!"_

"Sorry, Dem, I don't feel like it now. I'm sure that your friends won't die between now and tomorrow."

_"I don't know... Axel can be very violent when drunk."_

"Then keep him sober!"

Just then, Kairi walked in.

"Can we talk?" she asked. Xion swallowed before nodding.

_"Xi? Hello?"_

"Uh, Dem, I gotta go."

_"Okay...? Bye!"_

"See you later!"

She ended the call and looked straight up at the ceiling.

"Xion, I-"

"Please don't tell them!"

Kairi looked at her, Xion's face was pale.

"Why not? You stole my scholarship _and_ lied to me about it! And you don't think I deserve to have it back?!" she only just stopped herself from yelling, but stressed every word.

"I just wanted to be able to do something well for a change," she replied, in a far calmer voice, "instead of being, 'Kairi's weird friend, the one with straight D's' which isn't fun."

Kairi sighed, trying to calm herself down, "Look. I need this scholarship, my Mom lost her job and-"

"So what? You act as if you're the only one in the world with problems." Xion spat, sitting up, but still just staring at the wall.

"Go on then, Xion! Tell me that someone ruining my chance of going to an amazing school doesn't deserve sorting out! Tell me."

Xion continued to stare at the wall, before remembering something that she had read online recently. She smirked.

"Your Mom was fired... wasn't she?" she asked Kairi.

"How did you know...?"

"She was one of those women who bribed their boss to give them days off and all that shit!"

"Xion I-"

"Geez, Kairi, you tell me that someone ruining my chance of going to an amazing school doesn't deserve sorting out." she sighed, mimicking Kairi's voice.

Kairi's eyes began to water, she was so, _so_ angry. But she knew that shouting back wouldn't help at all, so she composed herself.

"Come on," she began, "I need this. I'm sorry that this is gonna get you expelled... but I have to do this. It means too much to me."

Xion looked at her for the first time, and could see that Kairi was only hiding her anger. She hopped down from the top bunk as Kairi started towards the door.

"My Mom died." started Xion, "Of Geostigma. It turns out that she had some debt from when she was younger, she never paid it back. If I lose this... my family's finished."

Kairi's stern face turned into one of shock, and then to one of sadness. But then she frowned again, and walked out. Xion went back to lying on her bed, and thought everything over. As the bell rang for the next lesson, she groaned. She was _not_ looking forward to the rest of the day.

* * *

Riku held his head in his hands during math, he was usually fine in the class, but he had other things on his mind. For one, Kairi looked really distressed, and had been told more than once by the teacher to, 'Focus on your work Miss Gainsborough, the window doesn't have all the answers written on it.'  
And Kairi _never _got prompted by the teacher, so he guessed that things hadn't gone well with Xion as he had expected. Riku had hoped that everything could just go back to normal, so that things could just go as planned. He almost laughed at how childish that sounded now.

"Mr Silver," the teacher scolded, "Would I be correct in saying that Kairi is not our only slacker today?"

"No Miss. Sorry Miss."

Damn.

* * *

**AN: Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hello my gorgeous little munchkins! Ready for another leap into the realm of joy and aluminium?! **

**(Ignore the author, she hes been given Nitrous Oxide, A.K.A. Laughing gas. And... short chapter is short.)**

* * *

Kairi sat through History class for what felt like forever. They had to do partner projects about Medieval currency, and lovely Mr Luxord had stuck her with Hayner. Also known as 'The kid who never does any work'.

They listened to Luxord drone on about money, gold, Medieval gambling, gold, money, and... well, gold. Hayner was tapping his pencil against the top of the table, Kairi's eye twitched.

He kept tapping, she screwed up her face.

Suddenly, she slammed the pencil down flat on the table, and Hayner gave her a frightened look.

"What was that for?" he whined, edging slowly away from her. Kairi ignored him, and put up her hand.

"Yes?"

"Sir, I feel kind of ill." she lied, putting on her best tired-face.

Luxord raised an eyebrow, before giving in.

"Go to the sick bay, but I expect you to finish this work in your own time."

She thanked him and wasted no time in leaving. When she was outside, however, she actually did feel sick. Sick with worry and confusion.

What was she to do? How could she compare her mother losing her job, and Xion's mother... well, passing away. Kairi suddenly felt guilty, even though she knew that she had nothing to be guilty about. She reminded herself: Xion had got herself into this mess, not her.

But... why should Xion suffer just because Kairi's mom's mistake? Although, Xion had stolen-

"Fuck!" Kairi yelled, clutching her head. She was pretty sure that she was having a migraine, luckily, she was very close to the sick bay.

As she walked in, still with a horrible headache, the nurse rushed over to her.

She looked around, as everything started to become blurred. Fortunately, she was already laid down as her world turned black.

* * *

At lunch, Xion sat with Demyx and one of his other friends. But her mind was on all but her meal, even though she tried her best to ignore all the conflicting thoughts that bounced around her head painfully. She hated everything right now. And she hated how much she had to rely on Kairi, Xion despised relying on people.

"I bet that you'd love to snog Wakka, right Xion?"

She nodded, even though she hadn't heard a word of what Axel had said. People weren't worth listening to.

Suddenly, she heard out of control laughter from next to her. Then she realized what he had asked.

"Wh- What!? No!"

Axel and Demyx kept laughing, attracting the attention of everyone else in the cafeteria.

"I _knew _you weren't listening, Xion!" Demyx chuckled.

"Or maybe..." Axel began, stroking his non-existent beard, "You _were _listening!"

"Whoa! Never knew you felt that way!" Demyx gasped, with fake shock, before the two idiots began roaring with laughter again.

Xion groaned. At least with these two she probably wouldn't have time to think about Kairi. So she decided not to dwell on it.

"Okay guys, you've had your fun." she sighed.

"Well, I'm done. But I think that Axel has more fun in store!" Demyx said, pointing to a tall blond girl who was heading over to us, "Right Axie?"

"Shit!"

The girl walked over and gave me an intimidating look.

"And who is this?" she demanded, as if Xion had just shot a puppy or something.

"L-Larx, this is Xion." Axel stuttered, "Xion, this is my... girlfriend... Larxene."

She gave the older girl a weak smile, and was returned with a scowl.

"It's a pleasure." Larxene said, in the most bored, sarcastic voice possible, "Oh, yay. Mr Intellect is here too."

She was looking over towards the cafeteria entrance as someone walked in. It was Zexion. When he was right at their table, Xion finally said hello.

"Hi Zex." she greeted him, her face flushing slightly red for reasons that she was not aware of.

"Xion? I do not remember you being introduced to these three..." he began, seeming as if he was going to finish that description, until he was met be Larxene's unnerving stare.

"To be honest, I only met Demyx the other day." she laughed, sheepishly, "You don't mind, right?"

Zexion swallowed.

"No, it would be my pleasure."

Xion then noticed something going on in the other side of the room. Sora had just rushed over to his friends, saying something about Kairi passing out. 'Well,' she thought, 'if Kairi's out of it, that means that she can't let a teacher know about what I did. Right?'

She tried to forget about how heartless that sounded.

* * *

**AN: I am now clear of gas, and would like to apologize for how short this chappie is. Sorry.**

**Plz R&R!**

**PS: Next update will be late, but will be a double, 'cause I'm going to 'Non-Internet-Land' for a week soon.**


	8. Chapter 8

**~Sigh~**

**On with chapter eight... and I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Why would I?**

**BTW, for anyone who hadn't figured it out or has never heard the phrase, a sick bay is where you go when you feel ill, and where they call your parents if your ****_really _****ill.**

* * *

Riku sighed. Him and some of his friends were sitting outside the sick bay, while the others were inside talking to Kairi. He envied them really, for having clear heads, without the constant raging turmoil of thoughts. Okay, maybe Kairi was having a pretty rough time with all the stuff going on in her life, but Riku had to cope with... it. The thing that stopped him from being happy, and made him hate himself for being so weak for letting it manipulate him. He suddenly felt dizzy, and focused on breathing steadily and not falling off of the chair.

"Are you okay?" Roxas asked, giving him a look of concern from next to him.

"Fine. Just hungry." he replied, which was actually true, "I haven't eaten today yet, and now we're missing lunch."

Roxas nodded, and leaned back in his seat again. After a few minutes, Sora and Naminé walked out into the hallway.

"So?" Roxas asked, getting up from his chair.

"The nurse says that she has to stay a little longer," Naminé started, "But hopefully Kairi will come out in a few hours."

"But she might not be at school tomorrow." Sora said, his head drooping.

"Cheer up man!" Roxas laughed, slapping Sora on the back, "That means that she'll be fully recovered for your inevitable make-out session in a couple of days!"

"Heh, I guess... I-I mean, no! We won't-"

"I'm kidding!" Roxas said, still laughing, then continued in a whisper, "Well, kind of."

"_Dude!"_

Riku just stood there and watched them all laugh. He decided to leave, he needed time to himself.

"Hey, Riku!" Sora yelled after him, "Where are you going?"

"Back to our dorm."

"Why?"

Riku ignored him, and just hoped that for once, Sora wouldn't tag along. He didn't. When he was just about to go into his dorm building, he bumped into Xion, and some other people who he'd never seen before.

"O-oh! Hey, Xion."he stuttered, feeling dizzy again.

"Hi, Riku." she said, with a small wave, then frowned, "Are... are you alright? You look kind of pale."

"Yeah, just... stuff." he replied, with the most awful lie he had ever said.

"Riiiiight..." said one of her friends, he had blazing red hair and two odd tattoos under his eyes. He put on a serious face and peered right into Riku's, "Now I am suspicious."

Xion giggled adorably (it seemed so to him anyway) and yanked the guy away, "Um... Axel, you're kinda weirding him out."

'Axel' stepped back, still eyeing him, "It's not my fault that the boy get weirded out easily."

Suddenly, Riku was hit with another dizzy spell.

"I... uh, should go." he said, and with that hurried off, trying to stay conscious.

"Impressive, Axel. He fled within three minutes this time, that beats your previous record." Zexion said, looking at his watch. Demyx laughed while Larxene just smirked.

"Shut up, Zex."

One eyebrow raised, Xion just watched as Riku walked away, before turning back to the others.

"So, are we going to your dorm or not?" Larxene asked irritably. And they all knew that it was most likely fatal to disagree with her, so they went into the next building and found room 689, Axel, Zexion, and Demyx's dorm.

It was not such a pretty sight. One part of the room was covered in old clothes, and three of the bedposts looked as if they had been set on fire, and were barely able to hold the weight of the bed. The other side was no better than the first, empty cans of drink were all over the place, ranging from plastic water bottles to metal beer cans, and a lot of the liquid has spilled and dried on the bed and floor. Although, in one corner, everything was completely different: the bed was made and tidy, books were stacked neatly, everything was perfectly intact, and anything unnecessary was tucked under the bed. It was the oddest sight that Xion had ever seen.

"Uh," she began, "What _happened _here?!"

Demyx looked at her, puzzled, "Whaddaya mean?"

"Your room... it's such a mess..."

Zexion sighed, and walked over to his bed, "This is what I tell these imbeciles."

"Hey!" Demyx whined, and threw a half-full bottle of Coke Zero at him. Zexion ducked deftly, and the bottle ended up hitting Axel and spraying Coke in his face (as well as up his nose). He coughed and spluttered for a couple of seconds before wiping his face.

"Yo, man! You did _not _jus' do that!" he yelled, in a slightly nasally voice. Then whipped out a red lighter from his back pocket, and proceeded to chase the other boy around the room.

"Don't kill meeeee-eeeee!" screemed Demyx, once Axel had him pinned on the floor, "Xion! Larxene! Zexy! Help me!"

"My name," hissed Zexion, glaring at Demyx, "is _Zexion._ There is the answer you're looking for."

"Larxene?"

"No way!" laughed Larxene, pointing her phone camera at him, "This is going online straight away!"

"Xion..." Demyx pleaded, "I'll do anything, please!"

"Sorry, Dem." she said, "I've seen what Axel can do to people who get on his bad side."

"Good call," remarked Axel, pulling out something that used to be a sandwich from underneath his bed, "Open wide!"

"Nev- Mmmmph!" he grunted, as Axel shoved the moldy sandwich into his mouth and held Demyx's nose.

"One..."

Demyx held his breath, hoping that Axel would relent.

"Two..."

He closed his eyes.

"Three..."

He started to run out of oxygen, and tried to spit it out, but it was too big.

"Four..."

Getting desperate, Demyx attempted to buck Axel of his back, but just ended up wanting to breath.

"Five. I think we're done here."

Suddenly, Demyx breathed, and part of the moldy sandwich slid down his throat. He screamed, and shoved away from Axel, bolting to the bathroom, where he proceeded to spit the rest into the toilet. Then threw up on it.

Xion just watched the scene unfold, before daring to speak.

"Wasn't that a bit harsh, all he did was get Axel wet..."

Larxene laughed sadistically, "Are you kidding? Demyx did the same to Zex and Axel for no reason the other day!"

* * *

**AN: I noticed some errors in the other chapter, where I accidentally went into the first person a few times. I apologize. And I ended up not giving you a double update, but this chapter is slightly longer that the others.**

**Please review and whatever!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Happy June! Doesn't the year fly by?!**

* * *

The four of them lounged around in the boys' room, while Demyx finished sterilizing his mouth. Just as the bell rang for the next lesson, Demyx came out of the en-suite bathroom, and glared at Axel.

"It would be best to depart," started Zexion, eyeing Axel and Demyx, "before anything else gets out of hand."

"Awww," Axel moaned, "we still got five minutes, Zexy!"

"My name... is Zexion." he hissed, before gathering up his books and walking out. Xion bit her bottom lip, then got up to see what was wrong, since even Zexion didn't get that worked up about people abbreviating his name. The other three just sat there for a minute, until Larxene grabbed both boys by their uniform ties and dragged them out of the room.

When Xion caught up with Zexion, she noticed that he looked slightly agitated.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, walking alongside him. He sighed slightly, then gave her a weak smile.

"I have a slight dilemma." he said, "It is unbeknownst to me whether I should take the risk. What do you think?"

Xion thought for a moment before answering.

"Take the risk... and if it doesn't go to plan, then at least you tried." she replied, then gave a small laugh.

"What do you find so humorous?" Zexion asked, raising one eyebrow.

"This is the first time that you've ever asked _me _for advice."

"I suppose it is," he gave a short chuckle too, "and I might just have to take it. Xion... would you go on a date with me?"

* * *

To Naminé, Xion had seemed unusually upbeat in art. Normally the black haired girl would just sit there, painting, with a bored expression. But today, she had small smile, and picked a colour other than black or white.

Near the end of the lesson, the teacher told the class that they would be peer assessing each other's work so far, and would be partnered up based on their level in the particular subject. Naminé almost rolled her eyes at how ironic it was that she was to be partnered with Xion. But all the same, she carefully carried her canvas over to where Xion was sitting, and almost gasped out loud at how good her painting was. It was of the Clock Tower at the top of Station Heights, bathed in the colour of the twilight sun. It was unfinished, but almost looked like adding anything else would ruin it.

"...Hi, Xion." she greeted in a small voice, since Xion hadn't noticed her yet.

"Hm? Oh, hi."

Naminé timidly sat on the empty stool next to her, and propped her canvas up in front of her. They continued to tick off certain criteria from the board, neither of them speaking a word. When they were both finished, about half of the class was still working, so they relaxed a bit.

"So, Xion... you seem pretty upbeat today." Naminé said, but regretted it in case the other girl thought she was snooping. But she didn't.

"I guess. It turns out that I've got a date tonight." she replied, shrugging, "how's... Kairi? Is she out of the sick bay yet?"

"Not yet, she will be tomorrow. How did you hear about that?" Naminé asked.

"Well, to be honest, I just heard Sora yelling about it from the other side of the cafeteria."

The blond giggled, "I wouldn't be surprised if most of the school knows now!"

Xion laughed too, and stopped just when the bell rang, "But seriously, tell her to... get well soon."

"Sure, but I have to get to last period now, I'll see you around."

Xion nodded, and took her time packing her stuff up. Outside the classsroom, Naminé met up with Riku, who asked her why Xion was so happy.

"Oh, she has a date... or something, but I need to go. Bye!" she replied, before hurrying off. Riku's face went from one of hope to one off sadness, and shoved the rose that he had hidden in his jacket down to the bottom of his bag. And, unfortunately, his mind was struck with a dizzy spell. He blinked hard to try and clear it, but it just got worse and spread to his stomach... just as Xion walked out of the art room.

"Riku!"

She hurried towards him, "Sit down... or something!" she said, wracking her brain for any first aid knowledge.

"Nah... Xi... I gotta go." he groaned, and tried to walk away, but she grabbed his wrist. He yelped quietly in pain.

"What...?" Xion wondered, and pulled up his sleeve. She gasped when she saw the large black bruise, "You've got-"

Riku ran off.

* * *

**AN: I just realized that I have spent about four chapters on _the same _day! And now I have to write another one on today as well! I'll be lucky to get to the end of the school day by Christmas, at this rate!**

**Please tell meh what yous are thinkin'!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Arrrrrgh! I just finished Aqua's story on BBS, she is so nice! Has anyone noticed (I'm sure you have) that ALL of Aqua's command moves (both kinds) are IDENTICAL to Riku's in DDD?! This is crazy stuff!**

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of it's affiliates.**

* * *

At the end of the school day, Roxas, Sora and Naminé sat in the boys room, while Roxas nursed a bruise on his left cheek with an ice-pack. Sora fiddled with his tie angrily.

"Man, I'm gonna get that guy _so bad_!" he seethed, tugging at his tie harder, "All you did was... wait, what did you do?"

Roxas flipped the ice-pack over onto the other side, "I told you: he bumped into me, we had an argument, which I totally smashed him in by the way. But, when he started offending Naminé, I took a shot, we had a fight, I whipped his ass, and when he lost he said that he was going to 'get me' at some point."

Naminé looked at the floor, "You didn't have to do that, Roxas..."

Roxas gave her a smile and laughed, "Are you kidding? If I don't got you, then what have I got? Plus, that Seifer guy is all talk," he pointed to his left cheek, "I'm pretty sure I gave this to myself in the fight!"

Sora laughed, he knew that Roxas was only trying to make Naminé feel better, but it was working. Although, it would be best to leave the two of them alone.

He got up, saying, "I'm gonna go check up on Kairi. I'll see you guys later!"

Sora left. Roxas scooted a little bit closer to Naminé, she blushed.

"D'you wanna watch a movie? I have my laptop in my bag, and a bunch of DVD's." he asked.

Naminé shook her head, and leaned into Roxas slightly, "What Seifer said, before he left... about 'getting you'... I've heard rumors about him, and I don't think he would be one to joke about something like that."

Roxas took his girlfriend's shoulders and turned her to face him.

"I promise you, Nami." he started, with a genuine serious face,"That guy ain't gonna come anywhere either of us. 'Cause if he tries, I knock him flat until he gets the message."

Suddenly, his serious face became his usual cheesy grin, and rolled up his shirt sleeves, "Plus, have you seen these bad boys?!"

Naminé giggled, "Roxas, what am I supposed to be looking at?"

Roxas held his hand over his chest dramatically, "Oh no! Naminé! You must be going blind if you can't see _these_!"

* * *

Xion and Zexion sat in a small restaurant, just outside the school grounds. It was a tiny, family-run business, but the food was supposed to be amazing.

"Forgive me," Zexion started, "this restaurant is not ideal, but I thought it not appropriate to dine somewhere incredibly exquisite."

Xion smiled, "I wouldn't have wanted to go anywhere else, this place is really sweet."

She looked out the window, towards the school. Her face dropped when she thought of her encounter with Riku earlier.

"Is something the matter?" Zexion asked, reading her facial expressions, then started to panic, but didn't let his body language betray his emotions, "Did I do something wrong?"

Xion shook her head, "No, no. I was just thinking about something that I saw earlier. But I'm not certain if what I think I saw is correct."

Zexion let out an inward sigh of relief before answering, "I advise that you don't jump to conclusions, even if it is bothering you. There could be a simple answer to what you saw."

"Right, thanks." she replied, just as the waiter came over to take their orders.

* * *

"Hi, Kairi!" Sora chirped, "How're you?"

Kairi grinned, "Great thanks," she grabbed Sora's hands, "and the nurse says that I can leave in an hour or two!"

"Really? That's awesome, how come?"

"It turns out that it wasn't too serious, but I have to take the day off of school tomorrow. They're on the phone with my parents now."

Sora nodded, and took the seat next to her. They sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, before Sora asked the question that Kairi didn't want to hear.

"Have you told anyone about the whole scholarship thing yet?"

Kairi looked at him through tired eyes, "This happened _because _of that, but nobody knows."

The nurse poked her head round the door, "Kairi, your mother is on the phone."

Kairi took it and prepared herself for a conversation with her mother.

"Hi, Mom."

_"Kairi! Oh dear God, are you okay?! They told me what happened!"_

Sora suppressed a smirk when he heard the response, Kairi turned the speakerphone off.

"Yes, mom, I'm fine... yeah, yeah... No! I didn't take anything from strangers... no, really, you don't have to pick me up... really? ... Oh! You got it back! That's great... yeah, I heard about it... sorry? ...oh, ah, um, someone told me that they read it somewhere... Ack! It wasn't me! ... yeah, I know the drill... love you too... bye!"

Kairi practically smashed the _End Call _button.

Sora laughed, "I can see where you get your crazy side from!"

* * *

**AN: This is how I spend part of my Saturday. Anyway, this was a bit of a filler...**

**Review please... they make me a happy little horse!**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: I'm super sorry for the massive long break, and I don't really have an excuse for it, but I'll try and get back to my normal updating schedule. Oh, and I'm finally on the next day! Woop woop!**

* * *

Zexion sat in his usual spot in the library, mentally evaluating his date from the night before. He figured that it had gone well, since Xion seemed pretty content most of the time. Although, there were moments where she zoned out a little and looked slightly unhappy and-

"Hiya, Zexy!" a familiar, high-pitched voice interrupted Zexion's trail of thought.

"Demyx..." began Zexion, "I am rather busy at the moment."

"Busy with whaaaa-aaaat?" asked Demyx, grinning and scooting closer to the other boy.

"If you must know, I'm thinking about my... _date._"

For a split second, Demyx's face visibly dropped, before he plastered his smile back on his face, "Little Zexy had a daaaa-aaate? With who?"

"Nobody of your concern."

Zexion got up and left the library. Demyx no longer had the will to follow him.

While he was walking along the corridor, Zexion came face-to-face with the silver-haired boy from the day before, who also recognized him.

"Oh, uh, hi. Zex... wasn't it?" the other boy asked awkwardly.

"Zexion." he corrected, "And you are Riku, Xion's friend, yes?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

The bell rang, signalling the end of break.

"Well, it was pleasant to see you again."

"You too, man." Riku replied, walking off in the opposite direction.

_Well, that was the most awkward conversation of my life!_ He thought, _what a weirdo... anyway, time for math... with Xion- Oh crap!_

She had been with him when he had experienced one of the worst dizzy spells so far, and she had seen the blackish bruise on his arm. What if she put two and two together? No, she wouldn't, despite being pretty smart, unless she'd had first hand experience before then she wouldn't figure it out.

Riku slid into his seat beside Pence, a slightly chubby kid who was actually pretty smart when he wasn't goofing off with his friends. Riku spent the entire lesson doing the work for once, and tried really hard not to look up and accidentally catch eye-contact with anyone. At the end of the class, he was the first one out of the door and half-way to his next class before Xion caught up with him.

"Riku, can we talk at lunch? There's just been something bugging me, and I wondered if..." she trailed off.

"Yeah, that's fine, I'll be in the cafeteria." he replied hastily.

"Oh, okay."

They went to their separate classes.

* * *

Xion sat in the cafeteria with Zexion, Axel, Larxene and Demyx. Every now and then she would look around to see if Riku had come in yet, he hadn't for the last ten minutes. She looked back at her friends to see Demyx pinching Zexion's cheeks and peering right into his face.

"I _will _get it out of you!" he laughed, scrutinizing Zexion's every move, "I know that you're gonna crack soon."

Zexion kept his usual stoic mask as he replied, "Honestly, Demyx, there is nothing to tell. I simply-"

He was interrupted as Axel pushed the two boys' faces together, putting them in a rather uncomfortable kiss. Zexion scrambled back, almost falling out of his chair.

"I-I will be in our bathroom if anyone needs me, sterilizing my face!"

He walked off briskly, while Axel laughed until he cried, Larxene cursed herself for not taking a photo, Xion tried really hard not to burst into laughter and Demyx just sat there, looking at the floor and grinning. Right on cue, Riku walked in, giving the four friends an odd look. Xion excused herself and walked over to him.

"Where... should we go to talk?" she asked, still suppressing laughter.

Riku's cheeks were tinted red slightly as he answered, "There's this spot outside, it's pretty private."

"Okay," Xion replied, "lead the way."

Once they were outside, Riku led her to a shady area under a tree. They sat down and Xion cut right to the point.

"The bruise, on your arm, it's not just a bruise, is it? And don't think that I've forgotten about your little performance nearly passing out yesterday."

Riku looked at the floor as she continued, "You've got it, haven't you? Geo-"

"Geostigma. Yeah." he looked up at her, frowning, then pointed to the building they had come out from, "So run away, before you catch my _deadly disease_!"

"Look, Riku-"

"Just _go_!" he yelled angrily. Xion didn't budge.

"Riku, listen! My Mom had Geostigma, I know that it's not contagious." she told him, looking hard into his face.

The boy's gaze softened, and he took a deep breath and exhaled, "Sorry for yelling. It just gets tough, y'know? Trying to live normally, while having this... _thing _constantly sitting there, waiting to..."

"Yeah, I get it. Haven't you told anyone?" she asked.

"Well, my parents and stuff, but you're the only other person who knows." he admitted, embarrassed.

"When are you going to tell your friends?"

Riku gave a short, sharp laugh, "They'll find out once I'm dea... dea-de-debarred, yeah, debarred."

Xion glared at him, "Humor isn't going to get you out of this one, you have to tell them soon!"

"Fine, fine. Just please don't say anything."

"Okay," she agreed with a smile, "and remember, if you need to talk, then find me."

Riku nodded and they went back inside. Sitting back down with her friends, Demyx decided to crack a joke.

"Did Xion have fun with her _boyfriend_?" he asked, still red faced and grinning from earlier.

She glared at him, "Did Demyx have fun with his?"

"Plenty. I'll spare you all the _horny _details!"

* * *

**AN: Tell me what you think.**


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